Biologists create detailed lab replicas of early human embryos
Biologists trying to create laboratory models of the early growth of a human embryo have taken a major step forward. In preprints posted online on Thursday and Friday, four research teams reported using various kinds of human stem cells, some genetically modified, to create ersatz embryos that closely resemble real embryos that are up to 14 days old, replicating a period in human development that is very difficult to study.
The rush of papers was triggered when the leader of one group, developmental biologist Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, briefly described her team’s results at the International Society for Stem Cell R...
Source: ScienceNOW - June 17, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
‘Breakthrough’ could explain why life molecules are left- or right-handed
In 1848, French chemist Louis Pasteur discovered that some molecules essential for life exist in mirror image forms, much like our left and right hands. Today, we know biology chooses just one of these “chiral” forms: DNA, RNA, and their building blocks are all right-handed, whereas amino acids and proteins are all left-handed. Pasteur, who saw hints of this selectivity, or “homochirality,” thought magnetic fields might somehow explain it, but its origin has remained one of biology’s great mysteries. Now, it turns out Pasteur may have been onto something.
In three new papers, researchers suggest magnetic mi...
Source: ScienceNOW - June 13, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
‘I wish I could be her hero’: the teenage sweethearts who faced motor neurone disease together
When Justin and Rachel Yerbury met as teenagers, they had no idea that he would become a world-leading scientist – studying a disease that would cause his own tragic declineGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailFew people who make vows to stay together in sickness and in health give the words a second thought.For Rachel Yerbury, the promise she exchanged with her husband, Justin, back in 1995 has tested her in ways most couples cannot imagine. Shortly after they married, motor neurone disease started cutting a swathe through his family. His uncle. Cousin. His grandmother, mother and sister. Justin was determined to ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - June 11, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Caroline Baum Tags: Australian books Motor neurone disease Society Medical research Science Culture Source Type: news
‘I wish I could be her hero’: the teenage sweethearts who face motor neurone disease together
When Justin and Rachel Yerbury met, they had no idea that he would become a world-leading scientist – studying a disease that would lead to his own tragic declineGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailFew people who make vows to stay together in sickness and in health give the words a second thought.For Rachel Yerbury, the promise she exchanged with her husband, Justin, back in 1995 has tested her in ways most couples cannot imagine. Shortly after they married, motor neurone disease started cutting a swathe through his family. His uncle. Cousin. His grandmother, mother and sister. Justin was determined to research th...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - June 11, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Caroline Baum Tags: Australian books Motor neurone disease Society Medical research Science Culture Australia news Autobiography and memoir Health Genetics Source Type: news
Can ‘toxic’ bilirubin treat a variety of illnesses?
Generations of medical and biology students have been instilled with a dim view of bilirubin. Spawned when the body trashes old red blood cells, the molecule is harmful refuse and a sign of illness. High blood levels cause jaundice, which turns the eyes and skin yellow and can signal liver trouble. Newborns can’t process the compound, and although high levels normally subside, a persistent surplus can cause brain damage.
Yet later this year up to 40 healthy Australian volunteers may begin receiving infusions of the supposedly good-for-nothing molecule. They will be participating in a phase 1 safety trial, sponsored...
Source: ScienceNOW - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Crops grown without sunlight could help feed astronauts bound for Mars
Riverside, California—
For the first astronauts to visit Mars, what to eat on their 3-year mission will be one of the most critical questions. It’s not just a matter of taste. According to one recent estimate, a crew of six would require an estimated 10,000 kilograms of food for the trip. NASA—which plans to send people to Mars within 2 decades—could stuff a spacecraft with prepackaged meals and launch additional supplies to the Red Planet in advance for the voyage home. But even that wouldn’t completely solve the problem.
Micronutrients, including many vitamins, break down over months and will need to...
Source: ScienceNOW - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
The COVID-19 virus mutated to outsmart key antibody treatments. Better ones are coming
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and other effective drugs were elusive, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) emerged as a lifesaving treatment. But now, 3 years later, all the approvals for COVID-19–fighting antibodies have been rescinded in the United States, as mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have left the drugs—which target parts of the original virus—ineffective.
Researchers around the globe are now trying to revive antibody treatments by redesigning them to take aim at targets that are less prone to mutation. “There are new approaches that present a much more challenging task for the virus to evade,”...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 24, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Scientists prevent signs of aging in zebrafish by targeting the gut
When it comes to slowing aging in humans, telomeres have long been a tempting target. These complex, repetitive sequences of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes tick away the years by shortening each time a cell divides, eventually causing the cell to die.
The
jury’s still out
about whether reversing this shortening could be a molecular fountain of youth, but a new study in zebrafish is encouraging. When researchers lengthened telomeres in the gut cells of these tiny, translucent fish, they reversed signs of aging in the entire organism.
“It’s a really good paper,” says Ronald DePinho, a canc...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 19, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
NSF selects Susan Marqusee to head the Biological Sciences Directorate
The U.S. National Science Foundation has selected Susan Marqusee to head the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Marqusee is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Chan … (Source: NSF News)
Source: NSF News - May 16, 2023 Category: Science Authors: NSF Source Type: news
Researchers find way of making mice live for 20% longer - and they think it could apply to humans
The mutated supply of the protein KLF1, found in a range of blood cells, was given to mice by a team from the Institute of Molecular Biology at the Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - May 16, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Privacy concerns sparked by human DNA accidentally collected in studies of other species
Everywhere they go, humans leave stray DNA. Police have used genetic sequences retrieved from cigarette butts and coffee cups to identify suspects; archaeologists have sifted DNA from cave dirt to identify ancient humans. But for scientists aiming to capture genetic information not about people, but about animals, plants, and microbes, the ubiquity of human DNA and the ability of even partial sequences to reveal information most people would want to keep private is a growing problem, researchers from two disparate fields warn this week. Both groups are calling for safeguards to prevent misuse of such human genomic “bycat...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 15, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
When stem cells can ’t roll on a bumpy road, muscles break down
Key takeawaysStem cells travel along a collagen network to reach damaged muscle tissue and heal it.In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, stiff, scarred collagen prevents stem cells from reaching their target.A protein called sarcospan lessens this scarring and allows stem cells to do their job more successfully, pointing toward potential new treatments for the disorder.Muscles that ache after a hard workout usually don ’t hurt for long, thanks to stem cells that rush to the injured site along “collagen highways” within the muscle and repair the damaged tissue. But if the cells can’t reach their destinat...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - May 12, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
FDA accepts application for Roche ’s Vabysmo for the treatment of retinal vein occlusion (RVO)
Acceptance based on two phase III studies that demonstrated early and sustained vision improvement with Vabysmo, meeting primary endpoint of non-inferiority compared to afliberceptApplication was further supported by data showing Vabysmo achieved rapid and robust drying of retinal fluidIf approved, RVO would be the third indication for Vabysmo in addition to neovascular or ‘wet’ age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME)Vabysmo is currently approved in 60 countries to treat nAMD and DME, with nearly one million doses distributed globallyBasel, 9 May 2023 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY...
Source: Roche Investor Update - May 9, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
FDA accepts application for Roche ’s Vabysmo for the treatment of retinal vein occlusion (RVO)
Acceptance based on two phase III studies that demonstrated early and sustained vision improvement with Vabysmo, meeting primary endpoint of non-inferiority compared to afliberceptApplication was further supported by data showing Vabysmo achieved rapid and robust drying of retinal fluidIf approved, RVO would be the third indication for Vabysmo in addition to neovascular or ‘wet’ age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME)Vabysmo is currently approved in 60 countries to treat nAMD and DME, with nearly one million doses distributed globallyBasel, 9 May 2023 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY...
Source: Roche Media News - May 9, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
NIH restarts bat virus grant suspended 3 years ago by Trump
Three years after then-President Donald Trump pressured the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to suspend a research grant to a U.S. group studying bat coronaviruses with partners in China, the agency has restarted the award.
The new 4-year grant is a stripped-down version of the original grant to the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit research organization in New York City, providing $576,000 per year. That 2014 award included funding for controversial experiments that mixed parts of different bat viruses related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the coronavirus that sparked a global outbreak in 2002–04, ...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 8, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
